Avatar: The Legend of Chi
by FireRoseFanfiction
Summary: It has been 16 years since the strange disappearance of Avatar Korra, leaving no trace as to where the spitfire adult had gone. A new group of terror has arisen from the shadows as well as their intent for the destruction of the Avatar line. It's a race against time to find the new Avatar, and the mystery behind Korra's end. This is the story of Chi, and her legend.
1. Village Under Seige

**(A/N): An attempt at creating the next Avatar after our dear Korra. Enjoy! I own my characters and story. I don't own real characters who appear now and later.  
**

Citizens scream out in terror as the city crumbles amidst the chaos that unfolds in the streets. They call out for their loved ones, some darting away in the shadows as enemy rebels continue in destruction, all elements save for air aiding in their goal. Members of the Order of the White Lotus do their best to calm the situation, attempting to subdue the threat while saving innocent lives. Earth, fire, and water fly in masses to each side of the village once belonging to the mighty Earth Kingdom of long ago. Now believed to be a possible home of a new Avatar. After the mysterious disappearance of the previous Avatar, Korra, years ago, no one in the world had answers to all the questions that arose. Like before the Avatar had completed her training, Republic City's Council had once again tried to keep the peace, but even years after the Amon aftermath, nothing could have prepared them for this new threat. The threat now testing their power once again and on the primary earthbending village. The home of the six year-old girl sobbing from her hiding place amongst shipping crates where she had been told to go. That her family would meet her there soon, but no one came. The inhumane sounds and smells of the battle haunt her as she shuts her emerald eyes from the sights, though she still sees them plaguing in her terrified mind.

"Found you." A young boy's voice speaks before her as she gasps and opens her eyes to see him. A boy no older than her, his clothes of yellow and orange sticking out from her world of green and brown. Pale blue arrows twist around from exposed skin, and his calm grey eyes lock into hers.

"Aang?" The name slips off of her lips without her realizing, having maybe heard the word once in her short life. A faint smile plays off his, but he shakes his head as he peers around, a warning breeze of combat nearby.

"Follow me. You'll be safe soon." Is all he says as he starts off down the alley, a gust of wind curling around the girl. She shakily stands in confusion, the air supporting her to her feet and urging her to go on.

"Wait!" She calls for him as she desperately tries to keep up. Bare feet trip and she falls to the ground in a heap. She can see him stop, waiting for her to get back up and she does, so he continues down another corner and left up another. Her legs grow tired from running, knees and hands scraped each time they meet ground, but she never stops and he never lets her out of sight.

"This is it." The boy halts where he stands and she catches up. "You'll be safe now."

"What do you mean?" She asks him. "Where are you going?"

He says nothing, letting the shouts speak for him. Two men of opposing sides are nearby, and it won't be long until they arrive to their location. The boy turns away from their direction, and away from the girl's face.

"Will I see you again?"

He nods.

"I'm Chi. What's your name?"

He mouths a name, maybe even something else, but vanishes just as Chi's vision fails in the cloud of smoke that billows in from flame that eats away at more buildings. The two men are here, a non bender White Lotus, and an enemy with the gift of fire. The girl cries out as she ducks away from the fighters. The enemy sees her and uses it to his advantage to distract the OWL as he flings a ball of fire at her with a punch. Confused for a second, the OWL sees the man's target and launches himself at the girl, pushing both her and him out of harms way.

"You're a coward." The OWL scolds at the firebender, gently nudging Chi behind him as he stands. "All of you. The Avatar will live."

"Says you all who don't know who it is." The firebender spits out an ember that sizzles as it hits the earth. "Annihilation is the answer to the question. Which brat is it."

His golden eyes fall on Chi cowering behind the OWL's leg, his previous words reflecting off the dark yellow glow.

"Avatar or not, I won't allow you to harm her." The OWL places a protective arm on Chi's shoulder. "Or anyone else. The Order will put an end to you villains."

"Try me."

The last Chi sees is the volley of fists and fire, then black.


	2. Safe

**(A/N): I own mostly nothing. The fandom owns Howl.**

"Hey, are you okay?" The OWL's voice from before.

"I'm almost done with the healing, Howl. Give her time." A female's, calm and soothing above. "There. She'll be fine now, the poor girl."

"Thank you, Iyana"

"Just doing my job. Like you did yours." Iyana says with a tone of praise. "I'm off to find my Jukkin, but you can stay here with her."

"Thank you again, Iyana."

"Job."

The sound of the woman leaving the area, then silence and the man sitting down on a chair by the bed. Breaking away from the realm of sleep, Chi opens her eyes with a start, nearly sitting up but is gently eased back down by Howl.

"Easy there, kiddo." Howl tells her. "You're safe now."

_Safe_. Chi remembers the word spoken by someone before. The hazy outline of a boy with orange and yellow hovers behind her eyelids. She was safe now, but what about him?

"The boy?" Her voice scratches and Howl offers her water from the nightstand.

"I only saw you." He frowns slightly, then realizes his poor manners. "Forgive me. The name's Howl. What is yours, little one?"

"Chi." She drinks the water gratefully, cooling her dry throat.

"That's a nice name."

"You're nice." Chi does remember moments before everything became black. The firebender attacking them, wanting to kill her as well, and Howl protecting her, both strangers to the other.

"Glad I could help." Howl rises from the chair. "There's some things I have to take care of, but you stay here and rest. Ask for Howl if you need me, or Iyana if you start feeling sick."

"Thank you, Mr. Howl."

Chi closes her eyes, not seeing the warm smile that forms on the man's kind face, then a grim one that reminds him of what he was off to go do. What they were all to do amidst the chaos that had unfolded once the OWLs had arrived.

Find the Avatar.

_And Chi's parents._ Howl vows as he passes fellow comrades, quickening his pace as he goes.

* * *

When Chi dreams, she sees her family. It's happy, all of the around the table for lunch and chatting about their day. It seems so real, and she reaches out her small hand as if to touch her mother's face that comes close to tell her daughter that she loves her.

Then the illusion breaks, her mother's face twisting into horror, but trying to remain calm as she tells Chi to run, to go to the shipping yard.

"_Go, Chi, and run as fast as you can. Mommy and daddy love you so much." Her mother urges as she prods Chi away from her and their home._

"_B-But what about you?" Her tiny voice asks, trembling as the destruction all around them begins._

"_Don't worry, Chi. Daddy has this. Go run along to safety while we help the others, okay?" Her father reassures his little girl, summoning up walls of earth to put out flame. Chi nods, wanting to believe in the strength of her parents, and flees. They won't be far behind. She won't have to wait long._

_But in the dream, they still don't come._

_But the boy does._

_He's much older now, and a beard adorns his chin. In fact, it isn't him, but the name is right._

"_Aang."_


	3. Never Forget

**(A/N): Sorry for the random scene switching. Think of it as if it was animated P: I wish.**

"Aang, who?" The voice of a girl brings Chi out of the dream, ocean blue eyes right in front of her face.

"Oh!" Both girls say in unison as they both jump in surprise, Chi sitting straight up as her heart races from the sudden awakening and pain.

"Well, you're awake now." The girl, seven, states somewhat apologetically as she turns to eye the door. No one comes. "Phew!"

"Who..who are you?" Chi asks her, the girl perking up. Her clothes are blue like the OWLs, but lighter. Layered.

"I'm Kulana!" She smiles widely, the ponytail on the left side of her head and one down her forehead bobbing as she bows in introduction. Quieter, she adds. "Don't tell mom you saw me."

"O-okay." Confused, Chi promises and Kulana laughs glad, then quickly stops in fear of noise. Once the coast is clear, the older girl lets out a deep breath.

"I don't know what's more scary. Out there, or my mom." Kulana confesses, the darkness that she had seen shown by the way she gazes past where Chi lies. "You're from there, aren't you, Chi?"

"How?" Chi asks, not remembering having told Kulana her name.

"Secret." Kulana presses a finger to her lips. " Uncle Howl was really, really worried about you. I bet your parents must be, too, huh?"

Howl searches the Healer tents for anyone who could be the girl's parents. The fight in the city had mostly died down since he had brought Chi in, the rebel fighters having likely retreated under their leader's orders. The damage had been done, once tall buildings nothing but rubble and streets torn apart by bending, citizens who were in hiding coming out of the ruins. They all seem in a daze, stumbling towards the tents and calling out for the names of their separated beloved, but they are the lucky ones. Howl asks around for any who know a small child with brown hair and green eyes, any parents missing a little girl. None give the response he hopes to hear until-

"Howl, over here!" It's Iyana who calls him over to her husband Jukkin's tent, her voice oddly frantic as he obeys.

The scene is grim as Iyana ushers Howl inside. Jukkin pays his brother no notice as he and three other healers focus on the severely injured woman on the stretcher.

"Chi! Chi!" The name feverishly, almostly pleading, comes out of the woman's mouth.

"We have her. She's safe." Howl kneels at the woman's side, the healers trying their best to calm her as they treat her numerous wounds.

"Safe...with you." Her eyes open, locking on Howl's, the pure green a match of her daughter's. "Keep our Chi safe."

With a last feat of strength, she tears at the Earth symbol necklace around her neck and begs with her tear-filled eyes as she hands it to Howl.

"Don't let her forget." Her voice begins to trail off as tears pool and trickle down her bloody cheeks, a healer shouting for her to hang on but sounding so distant. "Mommy and daddy love her so very...much..."

Howl may be no bender, but he can feel her presence vanish in one last breath as Chi's mother is lost.

"We found her...with her husband. He had the worst of it." Jukkin shakily stands, exhaustion of trying to save lives catching up with him. "Iyana said you were trying to find them for Chi. I'm sorry, Howl. He...he's back there."

He points a finger at the back of the tent, the body of a man with his face covered in cloth lying on another stretcher. Iyana murmurs something to Jukkin as she places a cloth over the woman's seemingly peaceful face, ordering fellow healers to keep them together. Howl can hardly hear them as he holds the woman's necklace in his hand, the round shape leaving an impression in it as he squeezes it tight.

I will not let her forget.

* * *

"I'm a waterbender like my parents, see?" Kulana explains, trying with great concentration to bend the water left in Chi's glass. A bit of it ripples as trembling droplets rise into the air, then fall back in. "I wanna be good like them. What're your parents, Chi?"

"Earth." Chi finds interest in her fingers as she stares at them, wondering how her earthbender parents are doing. It was so scary out there, but they had to be okay. They were strong.

"Cool. I bet you'll be just like them, too." Kulana grins. "Maybe later we can-"

"Kulana? What are you doing here?" The voice of Howl makes the girl in question jump as she turns around to face him.

"Oh, uh, hey Uncle Howl." Kulana waves innocently as she takes a step towards Chi. "I was just talking to Chi, and, um-"

"You shouldn't even be here, Kulana. It's dangerous." Howl scolds, the recent terrors fresh in his memory, and Chi's parents.

"But I stayed in here. Honest. It was too scary out there-"

"Didn't your parents say to stay home with the rest of the Order?" His tone doesn't raise or sound mad, but gets a somber nod out of her. "Did you see the fighting outside?"

Another nod, as well as one from Chi. The shadows of what she had witnessed firsthand lurk in within.

"Kulana, wait in here until Jukkin and Iyana finish their healings." Howl sighs as the girl obeys, taking a seat on Chi's bed. "Chi, child, I need you to come with me. I trust you feel better, at least enough to walk."

"Y-yes, Mr. Howl." Chi gets up, her legs a bit sore from the day's events and healing, but stands by Howl. "Bye, Kulana."

"Bye, Chi."

* * *

"Here, I thought you would be hungry." Howl hands over half of a loaf a bread to the little girl. "It was what I could find."

"Thank you, Mr. Howl." Chi hears her stomach growl as she accepts it, still following the White Lotus man as he guides her up a hill. The sky is black with night, stars and moon casting their light against the dark. "Where are my parents, Mr. Howl?"

"Sit with me, Chi." Howl motions for her to join him on the edge, the view overlooking what had once been her home. She obeys, sitting next to him and taking a bite of bread.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it? Do you know the legend that goes with it?"

"It's a spirit of a princess. Yue." Chi recalls her mother telling her the story before bed, her father playing the part of the funny warrior.

"Who helped the Avatar at the time, Aang, defeat the Fire Nation from taking over the North. Spirits are very powerful beings, Chi. As are Avatars."

"I see." Chi tries to understand, thinking of the boy who had led her to safety, and her dream of the bearded man named Aang. Avatar Aang. "But my mommy and daddy?"

"Sometimes, the Spirits need them, like the princess to become the moon. Yue was brave to protect her people and the one she loved. Close your eyes, Chi." Howl waits for her to shut her eyes, then retrieves the necklace from his pocket and places it around the child's neck. "Your parents were very brave. Don't forget that."

"Mr...Mr. Howl." Chi whispers from behind closed eyes, her heart not liking what her mind is thinking.

"It's okay, Chi." Howl barely gets the words out before the six year-old is on top of him, tiny hands clinging to his OWL robes as she sobs into them. New to this feeling, he wraps a comforting arm around her. "You'll be safe with me."


	4. Visions of Nightmares

**(A/N): I still don't own anything Avatar. And don't worry, there are visits from the characters we all know and love. Sooner or later.**

_The spitfire Avatar battles back her opponents with trusty polarbear dog at her side. Chi watches as they progress, from both her dream of above and from the woman's sight. She's calling out a name in fury as each enemy falls in her deadset path. There's an attack too quick for Chi to sense as the scene changes. The woman is pinned in the dark, a man's voice speaking words too big and complicated for Chi to follow, but she gets the message from their shared reaction. Fear. She's terrified, and the woman manages to break free, but only purposely. They run, being chased by something Chi can't see, doesn't want to see. She's scared, Chi's scared. As if noticing something amiss, the Avatar stops and looks up right at the little girl._

_"Chi." Her voice speaks, trying to hide the fear._

"Chi." A familiar man's from far away.

T_he thing gets closer, a howl getting the woman's attention again as her blue eyes dart in quick thought of what to do._

_"Chi." Avatar Korra takes a step back, letting out a deep breath. "I'm sorry."_

_She knows its the end for her, the slipping chance of any escape crashing down as the beast approaches. Her life is fading, she's __**dying**__, but Chi, she's starting_ _**living-**_

"Spirits, Chi, wake up." Howl doesn't mean to shake her, but the sight of the nightmare-ridden girl tortures him. She awakes with a cry, beginning to fight back the man that isn't her father, then briefly remembers who he is and buries her head into him.

_Knew I should have let her sleep with me._ Howl holds her close, the safe feeling of being in his arms calming her down.

"There, there. Let's see what we can do." He stands, taking her with him as he walks into the kitchen area of the small apartment-like home. It was more of a Dormitory, the housing portion of the OWL Headquarters like a main base for its traveling members. With the dark and Avatar-less times, there were hardly any who stayed for too long. Howl sets the teapot on the stove, Chi still clinging to his nightrobes and staring at the shadows that linger on the walls.

"You know all the stories about the Spirits, don't you?"

A nod gets out of her, seeming distant yet so close.

"I used to tell them to a little girl just like you, back when I was a teenager. She was quite the opposite, though. My first mission was to protect her as she would run off on forbidden adventures." He's silent for a moment, remembering those times as if they were yesterday, the wild Southern Water Tribe girl growing up into a fully realized Avatar. "I guess some things never change."

_I couldn't protect her. I'm sorry._ She had left without a word, gone into the night and leaving them all to wonder why.

"What...what was her name?" Chi asks quietly, her voice almost lost to the whistling of the kettle.

"Korra."

A part of her knows the name, much like the man in her dream. Aang, Korra. Howl pours them each a cup of jasmine tea, adding honey to the girl's.

"Drink up, little one. It'll help you sleep better." Howl blows at the steam that curls over the hot liquid. The ripples that it creates reminds Chi of the waterbending Kulana had done that day as they had left what had remained of Chi's village.

"You're not a bender." Chi notices and he looks up.

"Nope." He states, not disappointed in the slightest. Amused, however, he adds. "I am how I am. Didn't help much about keeping Korra in line."

"Oh. Was it hard?" Chi dares to ask given his change in expression, and escapes into her tea glass. "I see."

"Maybe another night. Bedtime, this time." He waits for her to finish the tea as he sets his emptied aside.

"Okay, Mr. Howl." She lets out a yawn, green eyes drooping with sleep as he guides her to the small makeshift bed

"Just Howl, Chi." He reminds her.

"Good night, Just Howl." Chi mumbles as she falls into a peaceful slumber, no more nightmares to haunt her this night. He lets out a sigh as he places the blanket over her.

"Good night, Chi."


	5. I Know You

**(A/N): To our favorite familiar face.**

"Chi, Chi, Chi!" The name of the one inside is chanted by the girl waiting outside, tapping the door in sync.

"Niece, niece, niece." Howl mimics as he steps over from the short table filled with breakfast to let said niece in.

"Oh, hello, Kulana." Chi greets her as Kulana practically tumbles in and to the short table.

"Hiya, Chi!" She grins widely, taking her new friend's hands into hers. "Guess what?"

"Um, what?" Chi barely has time to ask before the answer is given anyway.

"Today I get to give you a tour! It'll be lots of fun! Hurry, hurry!"

It amazes Howl that with the endless bounds of energy coming from the girl that she isn't an airbender, or that their actions seemed opposite to that of their ages. Still, it was nice that Chi had someone around her age, even if it was his energetic niece.

"Kulana, let her finish eating. The Headquarters will still be here." Howl brings order as she obeys and sits rather fidgety. "Where are your parents this morning?"

"Meeting. That's where they always are. It's boring." Kulana whines as Chi makes an effort to finish her breakfast a little quicker.

"Meetings again, huh." Howl frowns, the two too busy interacting with each other to notice it. More meetings on what they should do now. Any new information on Korra, or the enemies that attacked the village.

"Mr. Howl, may I go?" Chi's question brings him back out of his deep thoughts, a green and blue set of big eyes begging to be set free.

"Alright, go on." Howl gives her permission, wondering why she even has to ask. Teasingly to Kulana he warns. "Don't get lost."

"I don't get lost!" Kulana sticks her tongue out at him, having learned her way around the Headquarters from many explorations. "Anymore."

The two children leave, Kulana happily dragging Chi along who tries to keep up. The atmosphere is silent the moment they're gone, leaving Howl in the company of his circling thoughts. It doesn't take long for him to be summoned to the meeting as well.

* * *

"This is where everyone lives. Ours is down that hall." Kulana points to each door and the residents listed on each one. It means little to Chi as she's quickly led from one turn to down one hall and to a similar spot that all looks the same. "There's a really special place, too. C'mon and I'll show you!"

Kulana takes her hand and leads her to an outside area.

"Welcome to the Training Grounds."

It's more of an outdoor arena, soft grass tickling Chi's barefeet as she steps past Kulana to take it all in. Jugs of water are on standby on the right, torches and durable dummies in the back, a sparring spot marking the center, and to the left-

"All right, Noa. Now lift with all your might!" A man with an equally ecstatic fire ferret on his shoulder encourages his son who moves his arms in great effort to raise a decently sized boulder. Rocks of all shapes and sizes litter the dirt coated ground to the left of the Training Ground, a perfect place for earthbenders in practice. Kulana skips ahead to greet the duo and pet as Chi follows behind. The boy, a few years older than the two girls, waves at her as his father asks Kulana who her new friend is. Chi knows him. She can't explain how she does, the strange yet sad feeling of recognizing the green eyes and silly grin of the man that she envisions younger as a teenager, still with the red creature perched on his shoulder.

"Hey there, little lady. What's your name?" He asks, kneeling down to her eye level as the fire ferret sniffs at her.

"Chi." She whispers as the animal jumps off of him and onto her. "Oh!"

"Well, Chi, it looks like Jiro likes you." He announces with a kind laugh and earns a smile from her. Offering a hand to shake, he introduces himself. "Name's Bolin. Nice to meet you."

* * *

"The rebels have attacked another village. While we were able to halt their invasion, still much destruction was caused. The whereabouts of Avatar Korra are still unknown as is any identity of the new reincarnation." Newly elected leader of the Order, Jinora, announces to her audience of once fellow OWLs.

"Then what do we know?" A member asks the airbender, not challenging her but voicing the concern that they all are thinking.

"They call themselves the Spirit Slayers. From what they have demonstrated, we know what they are after, or rather, who." Jinora summarizes what information she's managed to gather, not only from spies, but from books as well. "I knew Korra very well, and I don't believe they would have captured her. However, they have been targeting earth-based villages and towns much like we have as a precaution. They may not have gotten Korra, but then even they have not found her."

Howl watches her speak, remembering seeing the young airbender before earning her blue arrows. The eldest daughter of Tenzin has grown, and much like her father, expresses great concern for the missing Avatar. Seven years since the last sighting was seven years too long, especially after Avatar Aang's promises for them to keep all new Avatars safe.

"The best we can do is protect earthbenders and their homes as we find out more about these Spirit Slayers and why they want to bring an end the Avatar cycle."

The meeting is dismissed, though many stay to discuss their own theories and opinions of the surely evil group, as well as comparisons to the last major threat. The Equalists. Howl can't help but overhear conversations about Korra and her most likely demise. It hurts him to hear it, not wanting to believe that she was gone, the same when they had learned of her disappearance. Korra had left alone, though with Naga, but still. If she had-no. Howl won't think of it, not until there's undeniable proof. He leaves the meeting room and heads back to the Dorm Quarters.


	6. First Element

**(A/N): Sorry for the delay! Have a chapter and some baby fire ferrets. **

"Heya, I'm Noa." The boy, a near clone of Bolin, tells Chi as he mirrors his father's gesture of a handshake. "Are you a bender, too?"

"Um..." Chi holds her necklace in one hand as she shyly accepts Noa's handshake.

"Her mommy and daddy were earthbenders, so you have to be too, right, Chi?" Kulana recalls their first meeting.

"Ah, an earthbender, are you?" Bolin speaks up having overheard the children's conversation. "Let's see what you got, Chi. You can do it."

Feeling unintentionally pressured from all sides, even to Jiro who lets out a squeak of confidence, Chi finds herself trembling slightly as she faces the smallest of the boulders.

_"Wow, Mommy! What you doin'?" A tiny Chi asks her mother as she watches tiny rocks move under her careful guidance._

_"It's called earthbending, sweetie." Her mother can't help but smile at her daughter's sheer amazement as the rocks lower to the ground around the garden. "There."_

_"Oh, oh, can I try?" Chi raises her arms in no result. "Aw."_

_"Hm. Maybe when you're little bit older, okay? Mommy will teach you." Her mother reassures with a promise to the disappointed girl._

_"Not daddy?" Her father emerges from their home, having been working on preparing lunch, and fakes being hurt by his wife's promise._

_"Daddy, too." Mother and daughter chime in unison, laughing from him and their perfect timing as he receives a kiss on the cheek from his loving wife._

Chi lifts her arms in the simple stance she had always mimicked her parents do when they hadn't been looking as a surprise for the day when the earth would obey her. At Kulana's cheers and an impressed whistle from Bolin, Chi opens her eyes to see the rock hover inches above dirt.

"Nice job there." Bolin praises the new earthbender. "You've got some serious potential, Chi."

"Yeah, not bad." Noa admits, oddly proud of the young girl's accomplishment.

"Told ya so! Awesome, Chi!" Kulana congratulates her friend as the fire ferret leaves Chi for the shoulder of his master. The small animal lets out an urgent chatter that alerts Bolin.

"You want to go?" An affirming squeak. "Okay, we'll go check on them." Bolin assures the suddenly anxious Jiro with a scratch behind the ear.

"Dad?" Noa asks his father and Kulana gets an excited look on her face and Chi stands there, lost, as Bolin makes his way out of the Training Ground with the first two children following behind. He stops for a second to face Chi, wearing a fatherly smile.

"Come on, you won't want to miss this."

* * *

"Mom, we're home!" Noa calls out as they enter the home and Jiro leaps off of Bolin to scamper to an opened room as an excited little sister happily greets them.

"Daddy, daddy! Haku's babies are playin'!" She exclaims with large blue eyes as she approaches her father.

"All right. Lead the way, Lu." Bolin hoists his daughter up onto his back.

"Babies, 'Lana." Lu repeats from around her father's neck to Kulana below and sees someone she doesn't know. Before she can interrogate the stranger, they reach the bedroom where a very pregnant woman watches over the comfy nest of the fire ferret family. Chi can't help but know her as well, and feels a sense of joy for the growing family as well as sadness that apart of her misses it even though Chi is here.

"Ooh, they're soooo cute!" Kulana cooes as Chi agrees with a distant nod, her green eyes on one sleeping fire ferret in particular.

"Aren't they? Haku's a good mother." The woman watches them fondly with an arm resting on her swollen stomach, the two adult fire ferrets exchanging a lick as the babies stumble about on stubby legs.

"So are you, beautiful." Bolin dips his head down to kiss Akira's forehead, Lu giggling as he does.

"Me, daddy!" Lu requests and he swings her around to fake a volley of kisses to which she squeals. "Daddy, you beard itchy! Save me, Noa!"

"Hang on, Lu!"

"Save the princess outside, fair soldier." Akira gestures away from the fire ferrets and Bolin obeys with another kiss on his wife before moving the battle into the living room. Wanting to help Noa rescue the 'princess', Kulana follows after them, leaving Chi with Akira.

"So, who must you be? I haven't seen you before." Akira asks the girl as the child sits down to be closer to the creatures, the one baby still drawing her attention.

"Chi." She says as the baby suddenly wakes up and squirms its way to Chi. She can't explain the bond that seems to form between her and the little fire ferret as she lightly strokes its head. Akira watches the event as the baby lets out a meaningful cry and Chi gently returns her to her more active siblings.

"If it's alright with Howl, I'll let you keep her. When she gets a little older." Akira tells Chi, thinking it a sign of sorts that the animal and girl belong together even though they had just met.

"I'd like that." Chi murmurs, loud enough for Akira to hear as the mock battle behind the door escalates. With the fondness of a mother, Akira starts to stand with a hand on her belly as she feels the tiny life inside of her give a kick. The fight in the next room is over with Lu having been rescued and riding Noa's back, the three children and Bolin returning to the bedroom. Seeing their mother in slight pain, son and daughter go to her side.

"Sister kick?" Lu asks, large blue eyes on her mommy's tummy.

"My parents would know." Kulana says thoughtfully, her healer parents having the ability to tell an unborn baby's gender and possibility of being a bender. With Akira's welcome permission, she touches her belly with a small hand and frowns with great concentration. "Hmmm. I dunno."

"No way, it's a brother kick!" Noa exclaims, he himself feeling the tiny power with his careful fingers. "He'll be an earthbender, right, dad?"

"As long as they're happy and healthy, and gorgeous. " Bolin wraps his arms over Akira's shoulders, planting a kiss on her forehead as the two siblings and Kulana debate over what the baby will be. Chi, not participating in the conversation, hears Akira who glances up to whisper into Bolin's ear.

"It's twins."


	7. An Avatar's Animal Companion

**(A/N): I made my own ships ;_; Until Book 2 comes and destroys them. Since it isn't released as of now, I'll keep going with the characters we all know and love. Maybe they'll have guest appearances when we learn more about them, like Eska. Also, I might create side stories to go with the summaries of our grown-up Korra Krew.  
**

"Sifu Bolin said I can keep her." Chi cuddles the baby fire ferret in her arms as Howl finishes the nest of blankets for the tiny ball of red fur.

"Does she have a name yet?" Howl asks and Chi thinks of what to call her.

"Hiro." Chi decides, feeling that her and Hiro will be friends for a very long time.

Now with a coveted pet at her side, and offering to help him make dinner, Howl wonders to himself how he used to go home to the empty place and be content in solitude.

"Was the meeting okay?" Chi asks him, fire ferret perched on her shoulder as she cautiously assists cooking vegetables in the frying pan.

"It was fine." Howl tells her, finding nothing to tell the girl that is good news. Changing the subject, he asks. "How was earthbending with Bolin?"

"Um...fine." Chi copies him, finding Hiro's ear in need of scratching. "Sifu Bolin is very nice. Oh, and his family is very kind, too."

"You know, Bolin and Akira were friends with Korra. I'm sure they have stories if you'd like to hear more." Howl suggests as he spoons rice into a bowl. "They used to Probend, too."

_Until Korra vanished_. Howl doesn't add. Everything had changed when their Avatar friend had left. For Bolin and Akira, they had both joined him amongst the OWLS to assist in any way they could in hope of finding Korra, and their lives as parents beginning. Miss, or now Mrs., Asami Sato, had married General Iroh while still maintaining her traitorous father's industries to clear its name. Many of Sato Industries were now focused on flying and covering the globe, also in search of any information regarding Korra. Navi and Tahno, after restoring the latter's bending and converting him to being good, resided at Air Temple Island. The last any of them had heard from a certain firebender cop was shortly after Korra's disappearance, his life devoted to getting answers. He was once again in Republic City, but most likely to return to the South Pole for clues.

"Probend. It was on the radio." Chi recalls her and Kulana overhearing a match by a group of young adults.

"At it again, were they?" Howl sighs, having noticed how the youths always seemed to find time to listen in on the sport. Though when he remained stationed in the South, he was always trying to tune in on the popular wave since the rumors of a certain Avatar joining an underdog team called the Fire Ferrets. "It's certainly gained popularity. Maybe some day you can try out."

"Huh? Oh, no!" Chi shakes her head, Hiro's tiny claws digging into her clothes. The results of her first day of training play through her mind.

"It takes time to master an element. You'll be throwing boulders around before you know it." Howl reassures her much like Bolin had. Of course, he had told Korra the same thing, but she had four to Chi's one.

"I have a good Sifu."

"The best."

Chi can't help but giggle as she agrees.

* * *

After a year, the dreams are still there, as are the nightmares. In Chi's dreams, she sees the man who calls himself Aang and who warns her of the danger, though far away yet, but that it continues to grow. In her nightmares, she witnesses the first test of the danger on the woman, her end and Chi's feeling of beginning. The woman still calls out her name, yet still seeming too distant. There is no changing of the woman's, Korra, fate as the scene is still the same and still frightful to the child. Chi doesn't tell Howl of what she sees, too afraid of what it means and having no confidence that she could do anything. Not even Kulana knows of her friend's nightly fears, Chi knowing all too well that it might not stay secret despite her best efforts. Instead, she consults to Hiro who brings her more comfort than the average fire ferret.

"I'm scared, Hiro." Chi whispers as not to awaken Howl who sleeps a room over. The fire ferret crawls out of her mini bed and snuggles up to Chi, long tail curling around to tickle both their noses. "Thanks."


	8. Ten Years

**(A/N): Finally some action! And a time skip!**

_**-Ten years later-**_

"C'mon, Chi, hurry up!" An impatient seventeen year-old Kulana calls from behind the door to the teen girl behind it.

"Things never change, do they?" Howl asks from his spot at the table, sipping a cup of jasmine tea with Hiro nibbling at her small bowl of fish.

"Sorry, Mr. Howl." Chi apologizes as she finishes putting on her OWL training robes and her mother's earth necklace.

"No need, Chi. She IS my niece." Howl sighs, noting yet again how he was Mr. Howl when he had insisted his foster daughter call him just Howl. "It's okay to just call me-"

"Chi, we're going to be late for training!" Kulana whimpers. "Sifu Bolin might be nice to you, but Sifu Iyana'll make me waterbend forms to death!"

"C-coming!" Chi hurriedly finishes up and gives Howl a kiss on the forehead, Hiro squeaking as she leaps onto her favorite spot on Chi's shoulder. "Bye, Mr. Howl!"

"Good luck with today." Howl waves as his once little earthbender and fire ferret leaves the room, catching a glimpse as Kulana drags the poor teenager away.

_Sifu Iyana to her daughter, huh?_ He can't help but smirk a bit at it. _Poor Jukkin._

* * *

"Why're you so slow today?" Kulana asks, noticing Chi's vacant expression as they speed over to the Training Grounds of the OWLS main base as Hiro clings to her post.

"Mhmm." Chi answers, not paying attention at all to friend and animal companion, proving Kulana's point.

"Is it a boy? Is it Noa?" Kulana pries, the seemingly innocent question getting the intended response as Chi freezes.

"N-no! I-I had a dream. It seemed so real. I guess it made me oversleep." Chi explains, her face rosy from Kulana's teasing. "Noa wasn't in it!"

Shaking her head, they both continue to the grounds, but the dream doesn't leave Chi's mind. He was in it again, the man named Avatar Aang, calling out to her from a strange place of spirits. The boy from long ago had been there as well, searching for her before someone else did. Someone bad. Someone who had attacked the Avatar woman and her polarbear dog before Chi, now after the earthbender.

"Noa and Chi, sittin' in a-"

"Kulana!" Chi protests in unison with an annoyed Iyana. The second they had entered the training grounds, Iyana was no longer the caring mother that daughter and Chi knew. Now it was strict business Sifu Iyana, well, for the waterbender.

"Sifu Iyana." Chi bows as Kulana mimics the motion as the Sifu acknowledges them.

"Good late morning, girls." She raises an eyebrow at her daughter, then Chi's polite gesture. "Chi, you know where to find your Sifu. Kulana, you stay here. I've got forms for you. Lu and Araik have already done theirs."

Chi bows again, leaving to find Bolin and fellow student as Kulana lets out a groan. It doesn't take her long to find them, pretending to meditate beneath the shade of a tree with an elder Jiro laying across the back of Bolin's neck. The familiar feeling of knowing him fleets into her head, just like when she first met him as a child. With a bow, she takes a spot across from him and next to Kiara and begins meditating herself as Hiro is nuzzled a greeting by her father.

"Tired, too, Chi?" He asks his student as he stands to stretch. "I almost dozed off there. I must be getting too old for this."

"You're not old, daddy." Kiara, his nearly ten year-old daughter corrects, and earns a laugh from him.

"You still look the same, Sifu Bolin." Chi adds, Hiro agreeing with an affirmative squeak.

"As long as I still have my gorgeous looks, I'll never age!" He strokes the hairs at the base of his chin rather seriously, the almost forty-two year-old striking a pose. It was a wonder how the man became a Sifu, but he had be in league with the previous Avatar, Korra, saving the world, so his skill was deemed admirable. Though despite being friends with Avatar Korra, not even he knew what had happened to her. Still no one did, and seventeen years was a long time with no sign of the spitfire Avatar, or appearance of the new one.

"All right, let's see what I can teach you today. Bolin's got some moves."

The session starts as it always does, Bolin guiding Chi and Kiara through a new formation as they shadow his movements of punches, kicks, and lifting.

"Light on your toes. There you go. Pow, pow!" He exclaims as clay discs slam a target and take it down. "You still don't want to do Pro Bending, Chi?"

"Oh, no." Chi shakes her head. "I would never be able to. I'm happy here."

"If you say so. Y'know, Noa's doing both right now." The mention of his eldest son's name causes Chi to falter as a disc accidently crashes into the poles of the safety net and topples it.

"Whoa!" Kiara exclaims. "Teach me how to do that!"

"S-Sorry!" She apologizes as she attempts to fix the contraption and hide the red on her face as Kiara skips over to help the older girl.

"Nah, that was one powerful shot. Don't be sorry, Chi." Bolin tries to assure the panicky teen, coming yet again to the understanding why Chi wouldn't do something like Pro Bending. She was nervous and desperate to please when she didn't need to be, much like when he had first become a father. Akira, his loving wife, was very much the same when he had first met her as children on Republic City's streets.

"We gotta build some confidence in you! Where's that earthbender pride?"

* * *

"Howl, a moment, please." Jinora beckons the man to her, eyes shifting uneasily as other OWLs walk past them. Howl notes how the always seeming calm young woman greets their fellow Order back with a quick smile, but her mind calculating if there's more to them. She takes him inside her office, a small room adorned with shelves of favorited books of the dedicated bookworm. "I trust you with this information. I've had reports that we may have spies amongst us."

"Spirit Slayers? In the Headquarters?" Howl asks, and a grave nod from her answers his question.

"They think we know about Korra, or trying to get a lead on her predecessor before us." The airbender lets out a deep breath, the stress of the situation weighing in on her.

"What do we do about them?" Howl thinks of all the members that he knows, and new recruits from the past weeks. But how long had they been in the Order?

"Nothing right now. They know as much as us, and I hate to hope that it will stay that way until we can figure out who they are." Jinora recalls what her father had told her, as he was dealing with much the same at the Council. "I don't want to endanger lives here by telling everyone. We have children to worry about."

_Like Chi. _Even though she isn't a child anymore, he still thinks of her as the little girl he saved.

"How do you want me to handle this, Leader Jinora?"

"There is one thing we must do before all else." Jinora decides after a moment of thought. "We-"

Her words are lost as a young adult earthbender, Noa, bursts through the door and to her side, quickly whispering something in the woman's ear that neither messenger or recipient can believe.

"Noa, tell the other messengers to bring all OWLs to the meeting chamber. Now. This is an emergency."

With a bow, the eldest son of Bolin leaves the office, propelled by earthbending as he goes to spread the word. By the look on Jinora's face that tries not to break, Howl knows the nightmare has come true.


	9. The Avatar

**(A/N): We have our villain, but who is this nightmarish man? Time and chapters will tell...**

"Alright, one more time!" Bolin encourages Kiara as she lets discs fly, then to be stopped by a wall of earth that Chi makes rise from the ground. "Awesome, now how does that make you feel?"

"Um, good?" Chi responds. Earthbending had always made her feel that way when she had discovered the skill. It was another reminder of her parents, and she tries to think of the times she had watched them perform it as a young girl.

"C'mon, like you mean it!" Her Sifu and Kiara demand with endless vigor to his student and her friend.

"Really good, Sifu Bolin!" She shouts rather loudly and Kiara joins in.

"Nice to see the training's going well."

"Big bro!" Kiara grins as she runs up to the visitor.

Chi instantly recognizes the voice as Noa and pretends to be occupied with the ribbon in her hair as Bolin heartily agrees that it is, then notices his son's change to a serious face. Chi catches the father and son exchange words in a whisper, Kiara not hearing them as she shows off letting pebbles fly around to her big brother. Noa says the information he had told Jinora, leaving Bolin speechless as it had the others and manages to tell Kiara what a great job she's doing with a smile. Bolin's face pales killing the joy that always seemed endless, vanishing from the news Noa hates is true.

"I understand. I'll head right over." The words seem distant, but loud enough for Chi to hear them. Her Sifu turns to her, trying to hide all the emotions that storm inside him from the four words that he never wanted to hear.

"Stay here and practice those techniques with Kiara, okay, Chi? I'll leave Sifu Jiro here to make sure." He takes the oddly not protesting fire ferret off of his shoulder and beckons the furry red creature to Kiara. Before she can say anything to him, Bolin waves the two a farewell as he leaves for the Headquarters.

"Noa? W-What's going on?" Chi hopes for answers from him, but he shakes his head with a sad smile.

"Sorry, Chi. I wish I could." Noa is honest as he always has been to her, but his job comes first, especially after seeing his dad's reaction. "I gotta go. Don't worry too much, alright?"

He knows by the worry in her green eyes that she still will, and with what he knows is beyond worrisome, and considering the world outside of their haven of a Headquarters_-No_, he still can't say. Chi watches Noa leave as her own fire ferret climbs up onto her shoulder. A greeting squeak from both furry critters alerts Chi and Kiara to the approaching Kulana, Lu, and Araik.

"Aw, thanks, Hiro and Jiro." Kulana sticks out her tongue at the traitor. "So, how was Noa?"

Chi says nothing, not even turning to her friend.

"What happened? I saw Sifu Bolin go away. Mom's gone, too. I bet its Avatar news."

All of them talk amongst themselves, save for the quiet Araik, but Chi can't hear them over the bizarre, yet familiar thoughts in her mind. Like a moment of clarity, that she felt the realization of the world's secret side on her shoulders.

"What could have happened?" Araik finally speaks, his thoughts most likely the same as Chi's and concerned as to what could have canceled their lesson.

"Hmmm. Maybe they found the new Avatar?" Lu suggests aloud.

"Avatar Korra was water, so the next one has to be earth, right?" Kiara looks hopeful, the young earthbender wondering if she could possibly be the next reincarnation.

"But what if the Spirit Slayers got them?" Araik whispers, downing their spirits as all of them have heard the hushed rumors about the ruthless group at night when their parents thought them asleep.

"That means they got Korra then." Kiara looks scared, her twin brother mirroring her uncertainty as Kulana decides to change the subject.

"I know. Why don't we see if we're the Avatar?" Kulana grins brightly, flailing her arms in an attempt to earthbend. "Try it, Araik."

"But I'm a waterbender." The boy shakes his head, but his twin jumps up and down.

"Me, me!" Kiara volunteers next, then turns to Chi. "We have to try together."

"Oh. All right." Chi nods, wanting to briefly escape the dark subject as well. "What will we try?"

"Fire!" She punches at the air as Chi copies her. Loose earth flies a short distance from the younger twin's fist as a spark of fire emits from Chi.

While there's a stunned silence from all of them, a spy in the shadows has seen enough as he eagerly exits the Training Grounds to report to his leader.

* * *

"The Avatar, you say." The man from Chi's nightmares, in the flesh, muses darkly from where he sits, having been overlooking a map of the world.

"Yes, Master. I saw fire bended by an earthbender. It must be the girl-"

"And you said this female was how old?" He interrupts the grunt spy still clothed in that of an OWL uniform, having raced to the Spirit Slayers' hideout as soon as he had witnessed the event. The question, though seeming innocent, makes the spy uneasy.

"I-I think the ten year-old, Master-"

"You think the ten year-old? And you've been spying on the Order's Headquarters for how long? Remind me, Lee." He rises from his chair as Lee takes a step back. The exit to the chamber is blocked by two guards, offering no help to the poor grunt.

"Since Taraka Village." Lee responds, finding anywhere but his leader's face interesting. "Ten years, Lord-"

"Yuzon, you were at Taraka that day, were you not?" He questions one of the two guards, a firebender who had risen up in rank since the invasion. "Here's what you will do. Both of you will take soldiers and whoever returns with the Avatar will keep their life. As will your families."

Neither Lee or Yuzon protest in the slightest, the former hiding his fear in a large gulp as the latter hones in on what he must do. Word had gotten around back then that he had been defeated by a single OWL, a nonbender at that, who had been protecting a child. Instead of feeling incapable of the task like Lee, a trace of a grin twists at his mouth for revenge at last.

"Consider it done, Lord Zotar."


End file.
